Lady Edith gets into Meryl’s trousers

No red-blooded les/bi would deny the chance to get into Meryl Streep‘s pants.

But, as EW reports, Laura Carmichael actually got to do it. The actress, who plays Lady Edith Crawley on Downton Abbey, said in an interview that she enjoyed the wardrobe fitting for her brief venture into tractor driving for a local farmer.

The fun was not just in getting to wear pants instead of the usual post-Edwardian dresses with elbow-length gloves. It was trying on the trousers Meryl Streep wore in Out of Africa. Carmichael spills her thrill in this bonus clip from the Downton Abbey Season 2 DVD/Blu-Ray, which releases today.

Carmichael was, as she said in the clip, “gutted” to learn that the costume designers made her new pants instead of using the pair she tried on. She did, however get to wear one of Streep’s Out of Africa blouses. So, she not only got in Meryl’s pants — she got in her shirt.